The British Administrative System: Principles Versus Practice

The British Administrative System There is a great gap between the principles of public administration in Britain and the way in which policies are actually implemented. Grant Jordan explains and discusses the basic principles and theories before going on to show how in practice Governments tend to make up policy as they go along. The author finds that organisational theory has failed to engage usefully with practice. There are contending approaches that are used as ‘stick-on labels’ to endorse change rather than informing it. The book argues that reforms to meet one set of criteria inevitably have adverse consequences elsewhere. Reform has to be about balancing competing objectives and Grant Jordan shows that new initiatives have been enthusiastically introduced without Government properly understanding the results of previous policies. Students will be informed on a wide range of material from the Haldane Inquiry of 1918 to Next Steps and Market Testing in 1994. Teachers and students of Public Policy and Public Administration will welcome the new approach of this text, which combines an analysis of theory and practice with discussions on recent developments. Grant Jordan is Professor of Politics at the University of Aberdeen and has taught public administration and policy-making for 20 years. The British Administrative System Principles Versus Practice Grant Jordan London and New York First published 1994 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1994 Grant Jordan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-19167-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-19170-6 (Adobe e-Reader Format) ISBN 0-415-01550-2 (hbk) 0-415-01551-0 (pbk) Contents List of tables v Preface vi Introduction 1 Part I Organising without certainty 1 Government in the fog 2 Getting the design of Government ‘right’: looking for the philosophers’ stone 35 3 Understanding organisations: the battle of beliefs 55 4 Co-ordination by political clout: the ‘strength at the centre’ argument 76 5 ‘Next Steps’ into the fog 111 6 Public and private: boxes or mirrors? 137 8 Part II Accountability without certainty 7 Collective ministerial responsibility: a prime ministerial strength?